Worrall, L; Harris, K; Stewart, R; Thomas, A and McDermott, P (2010) Barriers to women in the UK construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 17(3), pp. 268-281. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose - This paper aims to identify the main barriers that lead to the under-representation of women in the UK construction industry. The study, funded by ConstructionSkills, seeks to explore the issues that women face and investigate the potential positive impact that continuous professional development (CPD) may have upon improving the retention and career progression of women. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses an open-ended grounded theory (GT) approach, including 231 semi-structured questionnaires and nine focus groups with women from a range of professional occupations. All the findings were analysed using keyword analysis to identify the top two barriers that women face, alongside a series of cross-cutting key themes and issues. Findings - The findings reveal that male-dominated organisational cultures and inflexible working practices are the main barriers to women in the UK construction industry, irrespective of job role or profession. This paper concludes by arguing for a sea-change in the expansion of CPD opportunities for women in managerial, confidence and communication based skills, with accompanying networking and support systems to facilitate the retention and advancement of women in the industry sector. Research limitations/implications - Due to the research approach, the data are not generalisable. Therefore, researchers are advised to research and test the findings with a larger group. Researchers are also recommended to investigate the impact of expanded CPD opportunities for both men and women. Originality/value - The paper puts forward a business case for the advancement of specific CPD training for women, to facilitate the expansion of equality and diversity in the workforce in the UK construction industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry; gender; human resource management; organizational culture |
| Index terms: | grounded theory, equality and diversity, working practice, professional development, retention, construction industry, profession, professional occupation, women, face, networking, human resource management, focus group, industry sector, business case, organizational culture, methodology, career, questionnaire |
| Subjects: | strategic project management, communication, psychology, institututions, data collection methods, industry analysis, sociology, professional development, management, theoretical framing, research methods |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Information Management, Project Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here